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Smackdown Notes

I hope you enjoy our review of Friday Night Smackdown. Money in the Bank is Sunday. Lets see what the last TV before the big night had to offer.

Daniel Bryan v Christian: Great opening match. Lengthy, athletic and entertaining. Nothing short of what you would expect out of these two.

Ziggie and Teddy cut a promo backstage. Long doesn’t wanna get fired like Vickie and so ordered Dolph to go home so he couldn’t unleash any more interference on Del Rio. Face Ziggler wanted to compete, but reluctantly agreed

Seth Rollins v Jey Uso: Decent match. Rollins won. It was fairly short. I hope this doesn’t mirror Sunday’s performance. In fact, it’s on the pre show so I won’t see it anyway.

Curtis Axel v Chris Jericho This was a rematch which interestingly enough the heel had requested. He lost for the second straight time against Y2J. Not good. Then again, he only lost by count out, then flipped out and destroyed the announce table. That was pretty cool.

The Miz v Ryback: When this match started, I was wondering whether or not Axel would come out and attack Miz. He didn’t. This was a surprisingly good match, and it had really great psychology too. Ryback dominated for the majority of it, but The Miz got his comeback. Then Ryback began to sell the leg injury again. I know most people hate this new direction for his character, but I for one think it’s good. Its giving him some depth and in this instance it added a lot to the match. He drew him in, hit him with the clothesline, the shellshocked, and got the win. Flair esque! This was pretty cool but he simply must beat Jericho on Sunday. His character has been hurt far too much to survive yet another PPV loss.

AJ and Kaitlyn were brought to the ring for a contract signing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these for the Divas title. Kaitlyn was looking phenomenal as usual in that outfit, but my eyes were attracted more to something else. That being the hilarious comedy provided by AJ Lee. She mocked her for the whole secret admirer thing again, but then she did something epic. She read out all of the texts that Kaitlyn had apparently sent to Big E about all the other girls, which was actually amazing. AJ is pure evil, and better than most of the males on the roster when it comes to mic skills.

AJ cuts very deep – Source: World Wrestling Entertainment

However, it wasn’t all one way traffic. Kaitlyn more than held her own, calling her out for being a psycho. An immense brawl kicked off. She trapped the tiny converse fan girl behind the table in the corner and beat on her, before slapping her fake admirer straight in the face. [Prediction: Kaitlyn and Big E will be an item inside two months – You’re welcome] I have to say this segment was the highlight of the show up to that point by far. I have to give a lot of credit to both ladies. I’m probably the only mark on the planet who thought this, but they stole the freaking show!

Fandango v Wade Barrett: Summer Rae proceeded the entrance of everyone’s favourite ballroom dancer as usual, looking splendid. Her man won the match after all of the other contestants in the Money in the Bank ladder match were involved in a fracas outside the ring, next to the announce table. I’m not quite sure why. There were a few legends in the crowd dancing along to the theme. It’s a shame there aren’t more of them, doing it every week.

Then they showed a rebound of the Wyatt Family debut from Raw. Cole said that Kane has been ruled out of the PPV injured. Phase 1/4 of my Bray Wyatt Championship prediction has now come true. Whether the rest will come to fruition who knows? My hope is that Vince will come out tomorrow (in his recent heel wisdom), compliment Bray on his ruthless aggression and give him the seventh slot in the match. It wouldn’t be popular with the fans, but when has that ever mattered to Vinnie Mac? Then I’d have him win the match, and eventually win the title. I’d have him retain over a fairly lengthy reign, thanks to outside interference from the family. But I’m not running things.

[VAULT MATCH: Greg Valentine v The Warlord] I’m not gonna comment on this because I simply cared so little. Slow, boring and too long. Warlord won with the powerslam.

Alberto Del Rio v Sin Cara Somehow I didn’t see Ziggler staying away from this match, and I was right. He was very much involved. Sin Cara started the match with a lot of velocity and aggression, and not that much botching. Now, that’s not like him. It didn’t take long to recognise the much paler skin and much better physique. It was Dolph in disguise. Pretty impressive! Cole played dumb throughout the segment to rile up JBL which I found hilarious.

Vickie came out and started shouting and screaming. She came through the crowd, having bought a ticket. She was saying Teddy should be fired. He came out and had one word for her – “Security” This was pretty awesome stuff.

Sheamus v Randy Orton It was hard to get amped up for a match I have seen a thousand times, but this was a pretty decent match. I’ve been particularly impressed with Sheamus’ improvement in the ring as of late. Now they just need to sort out his dried up character. The match was called off when Daniel Bryan took them both out with the ladder to do the whole metaphor thing again. Christian came down to join the mix, and the four of them battled it out for the right to collect the empty briefcase. This was predictable and nonsensical, but it happens every year and aren’t all traditions mostly nonsensical? Orton got the honours this time, but will he win the real thing?

This was a fairly good show. It’s always hard for the last Smackdown before a pay-per-view. All of the matches are sewn up and booked. It’s clearly the secondary show. You can’t expect a lot for a broadcast two days before the real thing. I thought it did a decent job of extending anticipation for the show. It certainly didn’t reduce it.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back for our Money in the Bank review on Monday. Like, comment and follow if you’re a wrestling fan. Your interest and support is highly appreciated.